


Gotta Set Limits

by Hereliesbethboland



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: 2.08 canon divergent, Crime partners, Episode Remix, F/M, Making Out, One Shot, Romance, Tension, gun pointing, light crime stuff, rio can be helpful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29795946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hereliesbethboland/pseuds/Hereliesbethboland
Summary: a little episode remix for Thelma and Louise in which Beth goes with Rio instead of Ruby to the 'hitmans' house to retrieve her stolen money.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 11
Kudos: 95





	Gotta Set Limits

**Author's Note:**

> edited for grammar/flow and overall betterness :) hope you will enjoy <3
> 
> I don't own them

“What’s the plan?” she asks as he pulls up across the street from a dilapidated building and shuts the engine off. 

He reaches over her to open the glove box, his arm resting on her leg for a second as he takes his gun out. He sits back with it cradled in his palm and looks over at her. 

“What’s it look like?” he says. 

“So we just storm in there guns-a-blazing?” 

“No.” 

Beth stares at him for a second or two, waiting for an elaboration that would never come. 

“Fine, don't tell me,” she says, reaching into her purse for her own piece. 

She catches a ghost of a smile as they exit his car and is reminded how much he loves evading her questions. 

As they cross the dark street, she sees him tuck his gun into his waistband and she follows suit. The metal feels cold and foreign against her skin; such a contrast to his touch which is warm and familiar. 

And it really shouldn’t be. 

He looks back at her. “You ready?” 

“What am I supposed to do?” 

“Just be cool. Follow my lead.”

Beth touches the gun at her back and he clocks the movement. 

“Don’t draw that unless you need it.” 

As they ascend the steps to the second floor where the “hit men” live, Rio is so casual it's comical. She tries to match his vibe - taking deep breaths in and out, but realizes it's not working when he stops on the stairwell so abruptly she runs into his back. 

“What are you doing?” she asks. 

She sees the subtle flicker of his jaw muscle from where he looks down at her. 

“What?!” 

“BE COOL.” 

“I AM.” 

“Why you breathin’ so loud?” 

“What are you talking about I’m _breathing_ normally.” 

“I’m just gonna talk to them, ok?” he says. “Stop trippin’.” 

“What happens if they refuse to give the money back?”

“They ain’t gonna refuse,” he says with the familiar arrogance she hates to envy. 

When they arrive at the apartment, Rio knocks softly with one knuckle. He waits about twenty seconds before knocking again a little louder. 

Beth’s heart is beating out of her chest. And it’s not because she’s afraid of the little jerks who stole her money. 

It’s Rio. She knows what he’s capable of. 

Knows first hand what it feels like to be on the receiving end of one of his _little chats_ , and the fact that she’s standing here with him… on _his_ side… what is she condoning? 

She really wants her fucking money back, though. 

The door swings open, and the mousier-looking kid, Tj or Pj..? stands there with a dumb look on his face. A huge cloud of skunky smoke hits them and Beth turns her nose into the collar of her coat to ward off the smell. 

“What the fuck?” the kid says and she sees Rio tilt his head in her periphery. 

“Heard you got somethin’ of mine,” he says conversationally. 

The kid looks at Beth and she watches realization dawn on his stoned brain, panic lighting up his eyes before he tries to shut the door. 

Quick as a cat, Rio blocks it with his foot. 

“Yo, that’s rude. Ain’t you gonna invite us in?” 

“We didn’t know it was your money! We thought it was the old dudes,” the kid explains desperately, and Beth has to school the laughter threatening to come out as Rio's presence instantly reduces him to a trembling little boy. 

Feeling emboldened she steps forward. 

“Where’s my money you little prick?” she asks, feeling Rio’s arm against her in a subtle attempt to hold her back. 

“You said we could have a car,” the kid shoots back. 

Rio looks at Beth and huffs. 

“That ain’t happenin’,” he says. 

“Then we’re gonna rat your husband out about the hit.” 

Beth rolls her eyes and Rio chuckles. 

“It look like she cares about that?” he asks. She shrugs when he looks at her for confirmation. 

“Now. You gonna let us in and we’re gonna wait while you collect all our money. Sound good?” Rio says, his friendly tone belaying the threat underneath.

He nods and opens the door all the way, moving to the side to let them in. 

“Anyone else here?” Rio asks and he shakes his head. 

As they move deeper into the apartment, Beth becomes increasingly disgusted by the state of it — beer bottles, random trash and huge colorful bongs litter every surface. 

_Who needs that many bongs?_

“Wait here. I’ll get it,” the kid says, disappearing down a hallway.

Rio glances at Beth and sniffs in a condescending know-it-all way that is equal parts annoying and attractive. 

She rolls her eyes at him and looks away, fidgeting in place for a few seconds before moving around the small apartment, nervous energy coming off of her in waves. 

Something doesn’t feel right.

She wanders over to the hallway and peaks down it, listening for anything. 

“I think he’s trying to pull something shady,” she whispers, turning back towards him. 

She’s confused when Rio's eyes focus behind her and he touches his waist where the gun lays. 

“Don’t move, bitch.” 

Beth whips back around and sees a young girl in her underwear, pointing a gun at her. She holds her arms out, fingers spread in a surrender pose as adrenaline rushes through her limbs. 

“I just want my money,” Beth says calmly. 

“Well you can’t have it.” 

The girl's hands are shaking so bad Beth's afraid the gun will go off by accident. The kid reappears carrying two duffel bags, his eyes going wide at the scene before him. 

“What are you doing, Toni!?” he squeaks out. 

“I’m not letting them take our money, PJ! You may be the biggest pussy ever but I’m not,” she says, eyes fixed on Beth. 

“Do you know who that guy is?” Pj whisper-yells. 

“I don’t care!” she barks out. 

“He’s probably gonna kill us now,” he whines back, eyes shifting to Rio. The kid looks terrified and rightfully so. 

Beth chances a glance at Rio and is unsurprised to find him looking bored, hands stuffed in his pockets. 

“Can we move this along? I got places to be.” 

The girl glances at Rio, blinking nervously before quickly refocusing. She starts to move closer, raising the gun higher so it’s aimed at Beth’s head, and forcing her back until her legs bump the coffee table. 

“Sit.” 

Beth looks down, cringing at the ashtray and various fast food trash laying there. 

“Here?” she asks, scrunching her nose in disgust. 

“Sit down!” 

Beth startles slightly and then gingerly swipes her hand across the filthy table clearing herself a spot. After she sits, she looks directly at the girl, giving her the same look she gives Jane when she’s being sassy. 

Toni’s eyes are on Beth as she speaks to Rio. 

“I don’t know who you are but you ain’t takin the money. If you try, your bitch gets a bullet to the brain.” 

Rio huffs. “First of all, she ain’t my bitch. And second- you ain’t puttin’ bullets in anyone,” he says calmly. 

As this conversation is happening, PJ begins inching the bags over to Rio. Beth sees the movement but keeps her eyes on Toni, hoping to hold her attention. 

“PJ, you better drop those bags you worthless loser,” she says, pushing the barrel of the gun up against her temple. “I’m serious. I will kill this nice lady right in your apartment.” 

_Shit._

Up until this point, Beth hasn’t been too worried - the girl, though unhinged, hadn’t seemed too confident. But now that the gun is touching her, she’s starting to panic just a bit. She takes a deep breath and thinks about a conversation she had with Rio not too long ago... 

_If someone’s got a gun to your head, what do you do?_

_Stay calm?_

_Yeah. and ?_

_Try and distract them._

_That’s it. If you can get them to doubt themselves for a split second you got enough time to knock the weapon out of their hand._

_Seems like quite a risk._

_Trust me. It works._

She looks at him and he smiles slightly, like he’s reading her mind. He nods just a fraction and Beth clears her throat, getting her bearings. She turns her attention back to the girl. 

“Hey, Hi.” 

Toni squints in irritation at her. 

“You... ah… do you live here? With these guys?” 

“Yeah, why?” 

“I just…” Beth says, huffing and shaking her head. “It's kind of embarrassing that you let this apartment get so trashed.” 

“What?” 

She seems genuinely thrown off, but readjusts the gun and pushes it harder into Beth’s head. 

“You're the woman of the house, right?” she continues, willing her heart rate to normalize. “What kind of woman allows their home to look this way? And why aren’t you wearing pants?” 

When a flicker of confusion flashes across Toni’s face, Beth makes her move, smacking her wrist hard enough that the gun clatters onto the coffee table and then shoving the skinny bitch to the ground. 

She quickly grabs the gun and keeps it aimed down as she walks over to the duffel bags and gathers them up. Rio takes one of them from her, and they casually walk out, leaving the other two staring after them. 

They get a few odd looks from the junkies littering the hallways but are too busy staring at one another to notice. 

“Nice work, Ma.” 

“You think?” 

“Yea, don’t go gettin’ a big head over it,” he says, a teasing glint in his eye.

She smiles, feeling a definite rise to her ego. She’d commandeered a weapon for gods’ sake. 

“Oh. Here,” she says, handing him Toni's gun. “What will you do with that?” 

“Feed it to the fishes.” 

**

Beth feels high. 

She’s never actually _been_ high, but she thinks it must be something like this — because she feels like she could do anything right now. And sure, what had transpired could’ve been on an episode of _World’s Dumbest Criminals,_ but still. 

She got her money back and it feels _great_. 

When they pull onto her street, she sees Dean’s car in the driveway and visibly deflates, recalling the state she left him in and not looking forward to dealing with it again tonight. 

_Buzzkill._

Rio parks a few houses down and flicks off his lights. Quiet music continues to play after he shuts off the engine, and he taps his thumbs on the steering wheel to the soft beats. 

Beth has no desire to leave his car, but she also has no reason to stay. 

“So…” she starts. 

He looks over at her, eyes hooded and relaxed. 

“So.” 

“That was… fun,” she laughs out. 

“Yea?” 

“Mhm.” 

His eyes map her face like he’s searching for something. And it’s funny because Emma does the same thing — Beth thinks it’s because she has an ‘old soul’ which would make sense. With Rio. 

“You a boss bitch,” he says quietly, his tongue sweeping across his bottom lip. 

She watches the movement, heat pooling in her belly. She feels suddenly powerful, her attraction to him sliced open and pouring out of her. 

“You’re a good teacher,” she says, unable to resist reaching out and swiping her thumb over his full bottom lip. 

His tongue grazes it and she does it again, breath coming faster when he catches her thumb in his teeth and then kisses it softly, hand reaching up to catch hers. He cradles her hand against his face and shifts to bite the fleshy part, then kisses her wrist… 

He looks at her and she feels an intense lust shoot through her core that compels her to grab the back of his head and pull him to her. Moans mingle as their lips touch for the first time, despite a few beats of awkwardness as they learn to mold to one another. It doesn’t take long before they’re moving in a delicious rhythm and then he’s tugging at her waist — 

“Com’ere,” he says, breaking away from her mouth to suck the soft skin of her neck. 

“Come where?” she breathes out, eyes closing at the feel of his full lips. 

“Wanna feel you.” 

The taste of his mint tea lingers on her lips and fills the meager space between them and it’s so fresh and real she wants it everywhere; gasping when he tugs her sweater down to mouth at her cleavage. 

“I’m not… I can’t fit,” she says, moaning when his fingers dip into her bra and graze her nipple. 

Suddenly he’s pushing her back into her seat and crawling on top of _her_ and it’s _ridiculous_ but the weight of him is nice so she relaxes as much as possible when he kisses her sloppily, trying not to laugh when he’s simultaneously working the seat controls, reclining it down and back. 

He buries his face in her neck, chuckling softly and the sweet, boyish sound bubbling out of him and onto her makes her smile. 

Finally, the seat is lowered and pushed back and _ok_ , she thinks, mirth giving way to intensity as he spreads out on her. 

“You’re surprisingly heavy,” she says, suddenly nervous when he leans up on his forearms and looks down. He tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and rubs his thumb across her eyebrow, his gaze contemplative even as she feels his erection growing hard against the inside of her thigh. 

The moment is heavy with unnamed emotion, and it scares her so she stuffs it down and reaches back for that high she had earlier. She grabs the back of his head and brings his mouth to hers, capturing his bottom lip between hers and sucking hard. Rio groans between her lips, the vibration echoing down her throat and she feels better - powerful again - until he breaks away and kisses the spot under her ear. The softness of his ministrations threaten her with feelings she’s not ready to face but despite this she turns her head to the side to give him better access. 

He takes full advantage, licking along the length of her neck and then settling on a spot to suck. Beth moans out softly, her hands finding purchase on his waist. 

“Taste so damn sweet,” he rasps against her, pressing himself hard between her outspread hips before moving back to her mouth and kissing her with renewed hunger.

Rio threads his fingers in her hair with one hand and uses the other to hitch her leg up over his hip. Suddenly tired of holding back, Beth lets the feeling of absolute need and passion wash over her and grabs his ass, encouraging his movements and meeting them with her own. 

“ _Damn_ Elizabeth,” he says, biting her full bottom lip. The sound of her name reaches somewhere deep in her and squeezes like a vice. 

“ _Mm_ … you too,” is all she can come up with but he seems to like it because his hands move to unbutton her pants. Despite the blazing inferno currently raging inside of her, the fact that they’re in his car causes her to still his hand and press softly against his chest. 

“I…” she starts, momentarily struck dumb by the wrecked look on his face. “Do you really have places to be tonight?” she asks him.

He drops to his knees at her feet and splays his hands out on her thighs. 

“Not really. Why?” He pushes her legs apart and smoothes his hands up the insides of her thighs, his eyes fixed on her center and she feels a blush burning her cheeks. 

“I was thinking we could move this to my room.” 

Rio’s hands stop and he looks at her. “What about your husband?” 

“What about him?”

He huffs and squeezes her knees before gracefully climbing back over to the driver’s seat. 

“Maybe you should deal with that first,” he says, eyes focused in front of him now. 

“What do you mean?” she asks, the cloud of lust dissipating a bit but still pressing. 

“I mean, the dudes a loose cannon and a rotten egg.” 

Beth takes a breath and chances a look at him. She knows he’s right but there’s nothing she can do. 

“I have children.” 

A sardonic smile which only reaches his eyes is apparent from his profile. 

“I’m doing what’s best for them,” she continues.

Rio nods; either because he agrees or because she’s predictable - regardless, the need to be honest with herself suddenly overshadows any creeping defensiveness. 

“I don’t love him anymore,” she says quietly, looking away just as she feels his face turning back to hers. 

“Come on. I’ll help you with the bags,” he says. He moves to open his door, but she stops him with a hand on his arm. 

“I got it. Just, watch my back.” 

“Ok,” he says. 

Beth gets out and opens the backseat, unzipping one of the bags and pulling out a stack of cash. She sets it on the passenger seat.

“Thanks for your help,” she says as she picks up the duffels, adjusting them onto her shoulders. 

“Anytime, Ma.” 

“Really?” she asks. 

“We’re partners, yeah?” 

She nods and flashes him a tight smile before turning to walk up her street. 

She can feel his eyes on her and it's really _something,_ because they both know damn well she’s perfectly safe in her neighborhood. At this realization she drops the bags to the ground and turns around, walking back to him. As she nears the car, he lowers his window - familiar smirk washed in warmth and consideration. 

She leans down to the window, smiling softly as he meets her halfway - their lips graze sweetly and she slips her tongue in just enough to pull a moan from the back of his throat. When she tries to pull away, he holds her tight to him, kissing her harder.

She thinks he's taking control or perhaps trying to have the last word, so she wrenches away, stumbling slightly when he lets her go this time. 

She rubs her lip, walking backwards a few steps and allowing his eyes to run down the length of her before turning away. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you to the wonderful people who are re-reading and re-kudoing my fics as I post them again. I love you alot and really appreciate you. <3


End file.
